Wedged lorries are wreaking havoc in a sleepy village after highway bosses diverted them in traffic experiment

Cars heading through the pretty hamlet face delays of up to an hour whenever a hapless trucker gets stuck

By Alex West

28th April 2017, 2:23 am

Updated: 28th April 2017, 2:23 am

A SLEEPY village is getting jammed up to 18 times a week with heavy lorries after highways bosses diverted them through it in a hated traffic experiment.

Fed-up locals are fuming about the strategy which has brought havoc to quaint Melbury Abbas in Dorset with the daily sight of a 30-tonne HGV blocking the narrow high street.

SaveDinahsHollow/BNPS

Fed-up locals are fuming about the strategy which has brought havoc to quaint Melbury Abbas

Cars heading through the pretty hamlet face delays of up to an hour whenever a hapless trucker gets stuck negotiating oncoming traffic and tight bends.

Kerbs, grass verges and a water hydrant have been damaged by lorries swerving off the road, while one HGV came within just 2ins of smashing into a Grade II listed home.

Locals have amassed a shocking gallery of photos and videos of HGVs clogging up the road, with one clip showing an articulated lorry suffering thousands of pounds of damage after a passing truck sheared through its rear trailer.

SaveDinahsHollow/BNPS

Cars heading through the pretty hamlet face delays of up to an hour whenever

SaveDinahsHollow/BNPS

Kerbs, grass verges and a water hydrant have been damaged by lorries swerving off the road

The space left for oncoming traffic using the 16ft wide road is so narrow that even a Smart car struggles to squeeze through.

The traffic problems have arisen after Dorset County Council put up signs directing southbound HGVs to use the C13 road in Melbury Abbas instead of the main A350 which runs parallel to it.

The idea was to create an unofficial one-way system for HGVs in the area, with northbound lorries using the A road.

SaveDinahsHollow/BNPS

The problems arose after Dorset County Council put up signs re-directing southbound HGVs

SaveDinahsHollow/BNPS

The idea was to create an unofficial one-way system for HGVs in the area

But villagers say the change has created chaos and are urging the local authority to ditch the experiment, which is part of a £2.5m strategy to improve the A350.

William Keleany, chairman of Melbury Abbas and Cann Parish Council, said: "The road is physically too small for so many lorries of such great size to pass through.

"The structure of the road and the nature of traffic passing through it at the moment means jams are continually occurring.

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